National Sports

The Blues are in the playoffs for just the second time in seven seasons. St. Louis will face Los Angeles in the second round.

After squeaking into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the West, Los Angeles dominated the NHL's best regular-season team and earned a matchup with second-seeded St. Louis.

St. Louis, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, won a playoff series for the first time in a decade against a franchise that reached the conference finals the previous two years.

Greg Biffle says Carl Edwards is still the top driver at Roush-Fenway. But it's Biffle who has dominated this year with top-3 finishes in the first three races and a sixth-place run at California a few weeks ago.

The St. Louis Blues moved one win away from the second round of the NHL playoffs, beating the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in Game 4 on Thursday night to take a 3-1 series lead.

St. Louis scored three power-play goals in a 4-3 win in Game 3 to take the series lead against San Jose. The Blues have scored five of their nine goals with the man advantage.

Matt Carpenter's base-loaded sacrifice fly sent in pinch runner Tyler Greene to give St. Louis a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.

Kansas City (3-8) has lost six straight games, including a sweep at the hands of the Indians, and has not won a home game during a 10-game stand at Kauffman Stadium.

Brian Elliott made 26 saves as Andy McDonald, Patrik Berglund, Jason Arnott and Alexander Steen all put in goals to take the Blues to a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is Thursday in San Jose. 

The Blues tied up the series and will play games 3 and 4 in San Jose on Monday and Thursday.

The World Series champions are off to a nice start heading into Friday's home opener against the Cubs. The Cardinals are 5-2 on the road under new manager Mike Matheny.

Game 2 is Saturday night in St. Louis, and the Blues will be seeking their first postseason victory since 2004.

With Brian Elliott injured, Jaroslav Halak will start in goal in Thursday's playoff opener against the San Jose Sharks.

Hitch knows exactly what this team needs to be successful," forward David Perron said. "He's leaned really hard on us, and we've responded."

Kyle Lohse held Miami hitless until the seventh inning and pitched into the eighth to help the Cardinals win the first game in Marlins Park, 4-1 on Wednesday night.

Kyle Lohse will face Josh Johnson in the nationally-televised game (ESPN) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Baylor's 80-61 victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA women's basketball championship on Tuesday night makes the Bears the first in the NCAA to win 40 games.

Petrino lost control of his bike, veering off a two-lane highway in northern Arkansas on Sunday night. He was taken to a hospital, but a statement released by University of Arkansas said he was in "stable condition."

Teammates made it seem as though a fan had won Adam Wainwright's truck during a spring training game.

When Gregg Williams was hired as St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator in January, he was answering the call from not just a longtime associate, but one of his best friends. Coach Jeff Fisher says he had no idea Williams had been running a "bounty pool" in New Orleans.